I know that You Tube is like the go to channel for everyone. Here is a great video that Harvey Poling created to bring awareness of what we do at Its Sew Made on Facebook. Harvey is the sole owner of Video Editing Simplified. Check out his skilled video creation and editing skills on this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBk76spkFNo&feature=youtu.be Pretty amazing don’t ya think so?

Wow! Can I just tell you what a joy it was to read, Man Shoes-The Journey To Becoming A Better Man, Husband & Father? It is my privilege to review this book; I believe that the author, Tom Watson, has some real valuable wisdom to offer his readers. Tom was born to parents ill prepared to raise a child in a healthy & life affirming way. He was placed into 13 different foster homes…some of which were little more than a systemic form of a physical & psychological torture chamber.

Tom was placed into foster care because his Aunt Donna & Uncle Roy found the courage to report the erratic parental care that infant Tom was experiencing. His parents would drop him off here and there and neglect to pick him up at the times that they agreed to. At one year of age, he became a foster child because his aunt and uncle found the strength of character to endure family censure by reporting the situation to the proper authorities. Tom expresses his gratefulness to them for doing so…even though he suffered greatly in multiple foster homes until he came to the place where his body and soul were nurtured. His life story actually proceeds with joy and gratefulness. To read the rest of this review go to: Book In Review

If you haven’t heard the news yet, it appears that NY Democratic representative Anthony Weiner is caught up in a social media scandal that has caused great controversy. In the beginning he said, that risque photos posted in the public time-line of his Twitter account was the work of a hacker. However, it has since been disclosed by Anthony Weiner that the photos were of himself and that he posted them to women that he “met” in his online relationships.

He’s stated that he has not met them in real life. His credibility is being called into question because of the lies he initially told regarding the scandal. His judgment is part of that controversy in regards to his career. Many people are wondering whether someone who would lie to his constituents, his family, his friends, and the media could do his job with honesty and integrity. To keep reading: Write Where You Are Blog

It is interesting to contemplate some of the facets of a man who was such a controversial figure in American culture. Jack Kevorkian was known at one time in the media as Dr. Death because of his involvement in assisting individuals with taking their lives…this was titled assisted suicide. Today, Jack Kevorkian died after a two week hospitalization for pneumonia. He is believed to have died from a blood clot but they will know more later. He struggled with the pneumonia and kidney complications during the hospitalization from media reports.

A lot has been said about Jack Kevorkian in the media over the years. To continue: Write Where You Are

Wow, that is a mouthful for the title of this blog post…but, it is what it says it is. The National Association of Letter Carriers have committed themselves once again to their annual food drive. They do this to help combat hunger. In the last two years in the United States, more than 50 million people have found themselves living in homes that don’t have enough food. This is outrageous, we can all do something to help. No one should go hungry in a country that supplies other nations with food from our surplus produce that farmers work so hard to grow.

You may say, I am only one person…what can i do? You can support the National Association of Letter Carriers help stamp out hunger by leaving a bag at your mail box, on Saturday May 14, 2011, with non-perishable food items. That is only 2 days from now. Make sure that the items you are donating are not out of date or in danger of expiring any time soon. Don’t have a lot to give; give what you can. If you are blessed enough to have the means to give…give generously; we all have a responsibility to share our blessings with others.

Support businesses and organizations that sponsor the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive. This is an amazing grass roots program that blesses your local food banks. All the food collected by your local mail carrier stays in your local area. The people you help may be your own friends, family or neighbors. With the economy being so challenging in recent years more people are affected by not having enough to eat. The numbers of children in homes without enough food is rising. The elderly are having a harder time making ends meet. Young wage earners are finding themselves without steady income to support their families sufficiently. Natural disasters have hurt many families and those people still need to eat. Churches can’t do it all…they need our help to provide food for those who are struggling with hunger! Won’t you help?

Would you like to learn more? Visit their website here: Stamp Out Hunger and if you happen to have a Facebook account or a Twitter account…then Like them or Follow them to lend your support. Spread the work online and off. Tell others about the food drive…encourage others to donate.

Remember to thank your mail carrier. They are dedicated to helping people stamp out hunger in your community. Do you know someone who has had to use food from a food pantry or food bank? Tell them about my friend Connie who heads up a website that teaches people how to eat healthier with the food that they bring into their homes through SNAP, food pantries, commodities, and farmer’s markets. She does this in a way to help people stretch their budgets and to encourage the people who visit her website to form a community to share tips and ideas with one another. Her site isn’t just for food stamp users…but for anyone on a tight budget who wants and needs to eat well. Food Stamp Cooking Club

If you are a person who looks to use and purchase products that help to promote the idea of organic farming practices and the idea of sustainability; then I would like to introduce you to Peppermint Jim and his products.

I first met Peppermint Jim back a couple of years ago in person in Michigan. He’s had an impact in Michigan where he helped to save his family’s heritage mint farm from foreclosure. He did this through hard work, and with the help of loyal customers. Jim believes in using organic farming practices that help build up the soil and protect it from poor farming practices that harm the earth with dangerous chemicals and destructive, or careless techniques that don’t look beyond the season’s current harvest.

I have to say that I was impressed with the man’s knowledge not only of those issues; but also, the intensive passion he shares for mint farming and for supporting struggling independent producers who are trying to make a living in a very competitive world. He’s done this by not compromising his faith or his belief in doing things in such a way as to honor God’s creation. He does his best to educate others and to provide products that promote health and well-being for the consumer as well as the environment.

In fact, Jim supports Southern Arizona Green Chamber of Commerce and Mrs. Greens World Care to encourage green practices in communities and businesses. The Tucson Arizona community is familiar with this way of thinking and it is a great place to connect with like- minded people.

In the May edition of Guideposts magazine you will find an article on Peppermint Jim and the story of his legacy from the role that his family’s heritage mint farm played in his professional growth; to the place that he is in now and, the direction that his experiences are leading him to, in the future. Don’t miss it…get the May 2011 edition of Guidepost’s magazine to learn more about Peppermint Jim and his life partner, wife Lilian and the role that their mint based business will play in the forward thinking communities who are wise to a greener and more sustainable world.

Jim has taken his knowledge, passion and purpose to Arizona and is introducing community members and loyal customers to his new line of products. His commitment to sustainability is contagious and he educates others to this way of farming. He is an encouragement to other farmers and independent producers of consumer goods; to do what they know is right and to have an opportunity to provide a living for themselves by bringing products to the marketplace that envelope all that they believe in.

You can see Peppermint Jim’s line of pure mint oils, body care products, farming tools, his handmade candies and goodies as well as his soil rejuvenator which feeds plants from seedling to bloom/harvest. You can find out more about what’s good for you and your family at Peppermint Jim

It is no secret that video is such an important part of our everyday lives these days. People in their personal lives are shooting videos with their camera phones, their flip cameras and their digital recorders of every size and description. Life is flying by and no-one wants to miss a minute of it. With families spread out over the country…grandmas & grandpas, aunts and uncles, mothers and fathers…and friends can all be a part of those precious moments. That doesn’t even address individuals who use video for business; which increasingly is important to online marketing/advertising and branding.

Businesses who use video to get more online traffic find it to be an effective tool. Visually connecting with your market is one of the best ways to catch your customers interest. In fact, your competitors are probably already using video to their benefit. Therefore, I am sure that you can see the importance of being able to harness the power of video editing.

In fact, video is used for connecting individuals together for business, family and for entertainment. So, it is important to know how to, not only capture those moments on video…but, to be able to know how to edit those videos effectively & professionally; and, to preserve them in formats that are useful to the increasingly technological world that we live in.

Understanding how those cameras work and how to render and upload those videos can appear to be overwhelming. Reading manuals isn’t for everyone…some people learn better from training tutorials…To read more go to: Write Where You Are